Men's Lacrosse: McDaniel Goes Down to the Wire in 11-10 Win Over Franklin & Marshall

WESTMINSTER, Md. – DJ Rickels (Forest Hill, Md./Boys Latin School of Maryland) tallied four goals, including McDaniel's final two that broke a 9-all deadlock and sent the team to an 11-10 Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse victory over Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday.

The Green Terror (7-5, 4-2 CC) scored in the final minute of all four quarters to take control of third place in the conference standings with two games to play. McDaniel can essentially wrap up one of the four CC playoff spots with a win at Haverford on Saturday.

Gibbs Preston (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) finished with two goals and two assists to give him 198 career points, two shy of becoming the 11th player in program history with 200 career points.

Three different players scored twice for the Diplomats (5-6, 2-4 CC), who received two goals and two assists from Shane Brennan.

Knotted at 9-all after Keith Murray and Brennan scored a minute apart, Rickels finished a solo run with 5:06 to play to give the hosts a 10-9 advantage.

The sophomore then stretched the lead to two with 19 seconds on the clock, finishing a feed from Jed Barnes (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park).

Brennan tallied with 0.7 seconds on the clock to set the final but there was not enough time for either team to even control the faceoff, preserving the win for McDaniel.

After Justin Rayman staked Franklin & Marshall to a 1-0 lead with 8:31 to play in the first quarter, Rickels started a three-goal flurry that gave the hosts a 3-1 advantage after one period.

Rickels finished a solo run with 3:33 to play before TJ Willoughby (Sykesville, Md./Century) scored 29 seconds later and Preston tallied unassisted with 49 seconds to play in the stanza.

Andrew Setian pulled the Diplomats within 3-2 just seven seconds into the second quarter but a pair of Nick DiBernardo (Towson, Md./Calvert Hall) goals from Preston around a Rayman tally, including the second DiBernardo tally with 0.5 seconds remaining in the first half that gave Preston his 100th collegiate assist, for a 5-3 halftime advantage.

Four straight Franklin & Marshall markers that included both of Kevin Kilpatrick's tallies gave the visitors a 7-5 lead with 9:35 to play in the third quarter.

However, DiBernardo completed his hat trick to start a four-goal counter that gave McDaniel a two-goal advantage 1:01 into the final quarter.

Barnes, Rickels and Preston scored during the run.

McDaniel returns to action at Haverford on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.